Fallen from the Sky
by Kaioo
Summary: The Girl, fallen from the sky, from another world, and now trapped in the world of the Avatar. How exactly does she tie in with the destiny of others, and what purpose does she have in this world? ZukoxOC
1. The Escapee is captured

Authors Note: I own nothing of Avatar, except for maybe some future concepts for moves/attacks of Firebending that may not exist in the actual Avatar universe/were not shown or mentioned but may have been in the creator's minds. Katya is mine.

Please Read and Review.

A lone girl sat in front of a fire, a sigh escaping her mouth as she thought deeply. The silence around her was unnerving, and she was left in solitude within the forest with her own thoughts the only thing accompanying her. The girl was clad in a worn black and red robe with the obvious Fire Nation insignia on it. Her _captors_ forced those of the colony to wear the robes, since they were property of the Fire Nation.

She opened her eyes, the crimson irises seemed out of place on her, whilst her brown tanned skin seemed out of place in the environment as well as the appearance of the skin itself. It appeared to be rather rugged and rough, and if somebody paid enough attention they would be able to spot very miniscule fragments of dirt clinging to her skin.

It was commonplace for her to be in rough appearance. She had escaped from an Fire Colony mining village several days ago, and she had been unwilling to stop to properly bathe, finding it unnecessary to put herself into potential danger so that she would be properly cleaned, she was used to being covered in dirt for months on end, so what would a few extra days matter.

Her thoughts drifted to her family, in a land far away, and she wondered how long had passed since she had disappeared and ended up in this unknown world. Not really an unknown world, it was a world where you could bend elements, and had been a popular show in her old world. She had appeared in this world when she was thirteen, and that was four years ago.

_"You need to stop worrying about them, Katya. It's in the past, you're here now, and need to get used to it." _The girl thought to herself, before sighing.

A twig snapping on her right flank snapped her back to reality, as she glanced at her right out of the corner of her eye, acting as if she hadn't noticed, but focusing intensely on listening for anything.

Three figures came stumbling through the bushes several moments later, and she was already on her feet in a defensive stance as she eyed the three figures. They were just children, a few years younger than her, the elder one of the trio was a boy with tanned skin, much like hers, and he wore blue robes, obviously a member of a Water Tribe. The girl looked much like the tanned boy, and she was adorned in the same blue robes, hair loopies flanking her face. The final member of the trio was wearing orange and yellow robes that screamed Airbender. Anybody with any sense would easily be able to piece together who the young boy was, only an idiot wouldn't realise who he was the moment they saw him.

The trio suddenly noticed her, as well as her stance, and immediately went into defensive stances themselves, awaiting her to attack.

"What's the Fire Nation doing all the way out here?" the elder boy spat, obviously disgusted with having to utter the words Fire Nation. A smirk crept onto Katya's face.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Water Tribe." Katya retorted, her gaze then turning to the young boy. "Travelling with the Avatar I see."

Shock instantly rose on the elder boy's face, as well as what appeared to be his sibling. The girl turned to look at the elder boy, before speaking. "Sokka, How does she know?"

"I don't know, Katara." the elder boy, Sokka, responded to his sibling.

"Are you really that dense? How many people do you see walking around in _Airbender _robes with an _Airbender _staff?" Katya chuckled. "Only fools would not realise that he's the Avatar."

"Why are _you_ here?" Sokka asked, his eyes narrowing at Katya as he gripped his club tightly.

"Just travelling." Katya stated, hoping to avoid the prying questions, shrugging her shoulders.

"Fire Nation. Just travelling. You know your story doesn't quite work out." Sokka stated, narrowing his eyes at Katya, before sighing. "Though everything seems fine, as she's merely a harmless Fire Nation girl."

Katya's eyes instantly narrowed as she glared daggers at Sokka. She hated being called harmless. It made her feel and seem pitiful, and she did not want anybody's pity. The girl, Katara, seemed to notice Katya's anger, turning to look at Sokka, worry on her face.

"Sokka..." Katara began, but was interrupted by Sokka.

"However, we should capture her, and take her to the authorities nearby." Sokka stated, and at this, Katya's eyes widened in fear. Katara looked at Sokka, shock on her face, before noticing the pure fear evident in Katya's features, and moved to say something to Sokka, who carried on, ignorant to her trying to stop him. "She may know something that would be useful to the war effort, and we can't exactly leave a defenseless girl out here."

Anger flared within Katya, mixing with her fear of being captured by the trio. She did not want to return to the Fire Colony, which was the closest settlement. She was not returning to that place ever again, willingly. With an aggressive motion, she slammed her foot to the ground, flames shooting across the ground, before rising into the air taking the shape of a spiral, and crashing into Sokka, sending him hurtling into the air, and crashing into some bushes. He staggered to his feet, shock and anger on his face as he looked at Katya.

"She's a Firebender!" Sokka shouted, charging forward but was flung away suddenly as a disk of fire slammed into his chest, sending him flying backwards.

Sokka crashed into a tree, slumping to the ground, relatively unharmed apart from being unconscious, and maybe a bruise if he was unlucky. Katya didn't want to physically harm the trio. Anger was visible on Katara's face, though she seemed torn between actually fighting Katya, and querying her on why she was scared of the authorities. However, she quickly made up her mind, opening the top of the water flask, manipulating the water out of the flask, and whipping the water at Katya.

She didn't want to fight the Waterbender, but it seemed she had to, lifting her arms up, bringing a wall of fire to rise in front of her, blocking the water whip, before flinging her arms forward, sending the fire wall hurtling towards Katara, the wall crashing into her, though obviously not with enough power to physically burn her, flinging her through the air as Katya stopped the wall, causing the wall of fire to collapse into nothing, watching as Katara crashed to the ground, and remained on the ground as she was unable to lift herself up. Sokka had already returned to consciousness, but knew he was no match for Katya, and instead rushed to his sister's side as the Avatar stepped inbetween Katya and the duo.

"I don't want to fight you Aang." Katya stated, glancing at the ground, before realising she had mentioned the Airbender's name, and she glanced back up at him, noticing the shocked expression upon his face. She realised her mistake. Nobody had mentioned his name, and she most certainly shouldn't be able to know his name.

"How did you know my name?" Aang asked, confusion on his face.

Suddenly, several Firebenders came bursting out of the bushes behind Katya, bringing her to spin around to face them, entering a defensive stance.

"There's the girl that fell from the sky!" one of the Firebenders shouted, pointing at her.

"You fell from the sky?" Aang asked, his face still contorted in confusion. "Wouldn't that have killed you?"

"I have no time to explain Aang. You need to get out of here, there's too many of them, and Katara and Sokka are in no shape to fight." Katya stated, looking back at Aang, her face gripped in sadness. "I apologise for harming them, now, go!"

She slammed her foot to the ground, sending one of the Firebenders flying backwards in the same manner as she had done to Sokka earlier, as fireballs flew towards her from a one hundred and eighty degree angle in front of her. She heard the hurried movements behind her, smiling as Aang and his companions disappeared into the bushes, having escaped. She raised her hands into the air, bringing a wall of fire to take shape in front of her, the fireballs dissipitating as they hit the fire wall. She sent the wall flying forward, watching as it crashed into one of the Fire Nation soldiers, sending them hurtling backwards, before slamming her foot on the ground, creating a spiral of fire to form in front of her, before doing a kicking motion which sent the fire spiral hurtling towards the nearest Fire Nation soldier, sending him crashing to the ground.

It was then that a figure came running out of the bushes, adorned in what looked to be elegant Fire Nation army, his head appeared to be bald, besides a lone black ponytail on the back of his head, and a very evident, and probably painful burn scar adorned the left side of his face, and his features were contorted with anger, as they always seemed to be, as Katya recollected. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was, but she quickly shook her head at her thoughts. He was a Fire Nation Prince after all, and she was essentially a slave of the Fire Nation. Though this was the first time she had seen him, or even met him, in person, she knew all about him from the show.

He was her favourite character, and she had always had a slight crush on the Banished Prince of the Fire Nation. She couldn't quite remember his name, and she struggled to recall what his name was, and it was as his gaze narrowed upon her that he remembered his name.

"Zuko..." Katya uttered, before her eyes widened in shock that she had said it out loud instead of thinking it. The Prince's eyes widened too for a moment, obviously confused, before quickly narrowing, returning to their normal expression of anger.

A second figure came rushing out of the bushes, stopping alongside Zuko, and was obviously out of breath as he was bent over, breathing in gulps of air. He rose several moments later, and it was now that Katya recognised him. Zuko's portly uncle, Iroh. She noticed that the old man's gaze was upon her now as the Fire Nation soldiers began to approach her. She slammed her fists, fire swirling around them, into the ground, sending a shockwave through the ground, which knocked all the soldiers off of their feet, apart from Zuko and Iroh, and she noticed the apparent admiration in Iroh's gaze at her power, whilst Zuko's anger had seemed to worsen as he entered a combative stance.

Katya's eyes widened in fear and shock as Zuko sent a fireball flying at her, and she created a wall of fire that absorbed Zuko's fireballs, when suddenly the wall of fire exploded, as Zuko came crashing through, flames surrounding his fists as he launched towards her, and she raised her arms subconsciously, blocking her face, screaming as the flame punch connected with her arms, sending her flying backwards along the floor, a sizzling noise rising through the almost silent air as she howled in pain. Tears streaked down her cheek from the pain from the new burns on her arms.

She was suddenly roughly hauled off the ground by somebody, her head lifting to look at whoever was holding her, before her head slumped back to the ground in defeat. Zuko held her tightly, and she felt as if the back of her neck was being burnt by the mere presence of his hand being there. The other Fire Nation soldiers had already managed to get to their feet, and stood to attention upon seeing Zuko.

"She's just one girl! How did you men struggle against _one_ weak Firebender, who was also a girl?" Zuko snarled.

"S-She's n-not just a normal girl, Prince Zuko, she's the girl that fell from the sky!" one of the Firebenders stuttered out, fear underlying in his face.

"The girl that fell from the sky?" Zuko repeated, staring in confusion at the Firebender who had spoken this insane statement. "Nobody would be able to survive falling from the sky. And there's nowhere around here for her to simply fall from the sky."

Katya raised her head, and a chuckle escaped her, causing Zuko's gaze to snap down to her. "Trust me, _ponytail_, I'm about as confused as you are about how I managed to survive the fall, and I've had four years to think about wonder how I survived, and I'm still stumped."

"Four years?" Iroh muttered to himself, off to the side from the assortment of Firebender soldiers and Zuko, apparently deep in thought about something.

"Ponytail? Do you even know who you're speaking to little girl?" Zuko snapped, flinging Katya to the ground, and if Katya hadn't succumbed to defeat, she would already be hurling attacks at those around her.

"Oh, trust me, I do. You're the son of Fire Lord Ozai." Katya stated, looking up at Zuko, a smirk on her face.

"It would do you best to respect those of the Royal Family of the Fire Nation." Zuko snarled.

"You're still a part of the Royal Family? I thought you were the great _Banished Prince_, having been banished for speaking out in a War Council meeting over a General's foolish plan that sacrificed new recruits, and you ended up in an Agni Kai with your father, and refused to fight him since he was your own father? And as such, for bringing shame to your family, you were banished." Katya stated, rambling on about one of the most important things about Zuko's character... no very person.

She then realised she had stated something that nobody should know, noticing the expressions upon the soldier's faces, who appeared to have not known about why Zuko was banished, as well as Zuko's own expression, a mixture of anger,shock and confusion, as he wondered how this random girl knew about the events that were secret, known by only a select few important individuals in the Fire Nation. Iroh stared at Katya, his gaze locked upon her as he was deep in thought.

Zuko shot forward, grabbing Katya by her throat, his face right in front of hers, fear creeping onto her face instantly at the aggressive movement, as well as the close proximity, of Zuko. Katya then noticed his raised right arm, flames swirling around the fist, and instantly closed her eyes, flinching, whimpering in fear as she tried to prepare herself for the strike. Several moments passed before she opened her eyes in confusion, as no strike had occurred. She noticed that Iroh was now stood right next to his nephew, and his hand gripped the raised arm tightly, Zuko looking at Iroh who shook his head, and Zuko released his grip from around Katya's throat.

"Prince Zuko, she is merely a girl, you should not take your anger out upon her." Iroh stated, before looking down at Katya, offering a small smile to her. "I think it best if we return to our ship and bring her with us."

"If I may interrupt General, but she is an escapee from the colony, and we are under orders to return her to the colony." one of the soldiers stated, at which Katya's eyes widened and she scrambled along the floor away from the soldier, but was stopped as her back collided with the legs of Zuko, who looked down at her in anger as her head snapped up to look behind her, her features quivering in fear as she began to shake.

"This girl annoys me, and we have no reason to take her with us on the ship." Zuko stated, anger evident in his voice, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her onto her feet, and attempting to push her towards the soldiers for them to take her.

"NO!" Katya screamed, an aura of fire circling around her, causing Zuko to pull his hand back so that he wasn't burned.

"Zuko, she is clearly distressed at returning with the soldiers, and it would be less hassle for us for her to come with us." Iroh stated, looking at Katya, whose head turned to look at him.

Silence filled the clearing for several moments, as she entered deep into thought, contemplating what to do. She could try and fight them off, but would obviously fail, since Zuko had already beaten her once, and she was struggling to remain conscious as is. She most certainly didn't want to return with the soldiers. She did not want back in that hell. The only choice for her was to go with the duo.

"I would rather go with you two than go back with _them_." Katya stated, pointing a thumb at the soldiers.

Zuko sighed, accepting defeat. "Fine."

It was then that Katya suddenly collapsed to the floor, the aura of fire dying down as she slipped out of consciousness, having exerted too much energy. Zuko looked down at Katya's unconscious figure, studying her features, noting that she most certainly did not look like a normal person from the Fire Nation, nor from the Earth Kingdom.

"She most certainly is an interesting specimen." Iroh chuckled, drawing Zuko's gaze for a moment, before his gaze returned to Katya.

Confusion made its way onto his face as he gazed at the girl, wondering why her skin was so tanned when she most clearly wasn't from a Water Tribe. He had never seen a person who was tanned as she was and wasn't from the Water Tribe. He couldn't help but wonder where exactly she had come from. It brought a small smirk to his lips, and he couldn't help but agree with his uncle.

"She most certainly is, this girl from the sky." Zuko stated, the small smirk disappearing before his uncle could notice.


	2. Commander Zhao

Authors Note: I own nothing of Avatar, except for maybe some future concepts for moves/attacks of Firebending that may not exist in the actual Avatar universe/were not shown or mentioned but may have been in the creator's minds. Katya is mine.

This is obviously going to be AU, but it will follow the storyline, though there will be differences within the events, just thought I'd let you all know.

Please Read and Review.

Chapter 2: Commander Zhao

_A younger version of Katya chuckled as she gazed at the television, as she watched the scene occur on the screen. This was her favourite one in the show after all. The Agni Kai between Prince Zuko and Zhao._

_"Hit him on the left!" Katya shouted at the screen, and as if the Banished Prince had heard her, he sent a burst of fire at Zhao's left._

_This attack caused Zhao to stumble backwards, allowing Zuko the opening to send a wave of fire at Zhao's midsection, causing the older Fire Nation man to fall to the ground, and Zuko stood triumphantly over Zhao, his fists aiming at Zhao._

_"Do it!" Zhao spat._

_Zuko hesitated for a moment, and Katya leaned forward, readying herself for her favourite moment after the duel had effectively been decided. Zuko shot his fist forward, but had aimed it just to the left of the downed form of Zhao, a burn mark now scorching the ground several inches away from Zhao's head._

_"You're just a coward." Zhao smirked._

_"This duel is over Zhao." Zuko snapped, and began to walk away._

"Look out Zuko!" Katya shouted, as Zhao tried to launch an attack at Zuko, but was stopped as Iroh had grabbed his leg, pushing it back to the ground.

_"So this is how the great commander Zhao acts in defeat... disgraceful!" Iroh muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. "Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you."_

_Iroh and Zuko began walking away from the defeated Zhao, a smile on Iroh's face as he walked alongside his nephew._

_"Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious." Iroh called back._

_"Did you really mean that, Uncle?" Zuko asked, looking at Iroh, who returned his gaze with a smile on his face._

_"Of course. I told you Ginseng tea is my favourite." Iroh responded, at which point Katya broke out into laughter._

_"Iroh is just too much." Katya muttered, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye before lifting the cup of tea to her lips, and taking a sip. _

_She smiled as she swallowed some of the Ginseng tea. She had started drinking it not long after her second marathon of watching Avatar, most likely influenced by the character of Iroh and his love for tea. She had always wondered what Ginseng tea had tasted like, so had almost begged for her parents to buy her the Ginseng tea. Now, it was her favourite drink, and she couldn't go a day without a cup. A sigh escaped her mouth as she stopped drinking, staring absentmindedly into space._

_"Zuko is so dreamy." Katya sighed calmly._

Katya's eyes snapped open as a heavy metal door banged shut, and she sat bolt upright, scanning her surroundings. She was in a metallic room, on an almost ugly bed that's purpose was to provide a sleeping place, and that was it. In front of her was a bare wooden table, a wooden chair seated in front of the table, and the rest of the room was bare, apart from a Fire Nation banner to her left, causing her eyes to widen in fear.

"Don't worry, young one. You're safe here." a somewhat eldery voice broke the silence, coming from her right, bringing her to turn her gaze to the portly man, recognising him instantly as Iroh.

"The Dragon of the West." Katya uttered, at which Iroh's eyes widened in surprise, a smile on his face as he chuckled lightly.

"It seems my reputation precedes me." Iroh smiled, before pulling out a teapot and two tea cups from behind his back. "Tea? It's Ginseng."

Katya stared at Iroh for several moments, narrowing her gaze at him. She had spent four hard years at the mining village, suffering under the harsh punishment of the Fire Nation, and though she could remember that Iroh was a kind and caring person, she couldn't help but be reluctant to accept anything from him.

"My name is Iroh, though you probably already know that, since you know of my nickname. May I be able to enquire as to your name, young one?" Iroh asked, his smile still plastered upon his face as he stood there.

"Katya." She responded coldly, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Young one, there is no need to be so against a cup of Ginseng. You haven't had a drink in a while, and you will become dehydrated if you don't have a drink soon." Iroh spoke up, pouring tea into the two cups, holding out one for Katya to take.

She hesitated for a moment, before a sigh escaped from her lips, and she took the cup, offering a small smile to Iroh who smiled back as he took his own cup and sipped it, his gaze not leaving Katya for a moment as she glanced down at the Ginseng tea. Katya's gaze instantly went back to Iroh, raising the cup to her lips and taking a sip, not breaking her gaze. She relished in the taste, and she sighed before she could stop herself, a smile clear on her face.

"My favourite..." She smiled, obviously falling into thought as a memory surfaced, and she thought back to another time.

"Your taste is good Katya." Iroh laughed, at which Katya laughed for a moment or two, though it was more of a forced, nervous laugh than an actual genuine one, which brought Iroh's expression down to a content, observant one as he looked at Katya. "I hear you fell from the sky Katya, isn't that a bit dangerous?"

Katya bit her lip, cursing mentally as Iroh had come to the point that she concluded he had obviously visited her for. She contemplated her answer for several moments, taking a sip of her tea, before raising her gaze back to Iroh.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you all of it." Katya chuckled, at which Iroh broke into a smile.

"Enlighten me, young one." Iroh responded, and Katya's gaze narrowed slightly at being referred to as young one. She didn't know why it annoyed her, but it just did, though she made no comment about her annoyance, Iroh seemed to notice this, his smile faltering for a moment.

"You see..." Katya began, her sentence trailing off as she tried to think of what to say. "I come from another world. I was at my home one day, watching my favourite show on something called a television- it's this electrical box that projects images-, when my television started acted strangely. So I approached it, and when I touched the screen, my vision turned to blackness, as sight escaped me. When I awoke, I found myself falling, really fast towards the ground. Just before I hit the ground, my vision turned to darkness."

"When I awoke, I found myself lying on the dirt path that I had been hurtling towards before losing consciousness, and I was remarkably unharmed. I was found by a group of four Fire Nation soldiers, who attacked me, obviously thinking me an Airbender since I had survived the fall which had been talked about throughout the village, someone having spotted me. Without thinking, I reacted defensively, and found myself Firebending, protecting myself." Katya continued. "Obviously I was not strong enough to defeat the soldiers, but I was taken to the village, and forced into essentially slavery, working in the mines. Poor working conditions, poor living conditions. My life revolved around working in the mines, over time building up my strength, as well as practicing my Firebending, inventing a few new moves of my own through the assistance of Earthebending techniques. I spent four years, before enacting my escape plan that I had been working on. "

Katya hesitated upon the next part, but Iroh noticed this, offering her a smile. "You don't have to tell me anymore if you don't want to."

"I've already told you this much, might as well finish." Katya sighed, forcing herself into it since she had already told him so many anyway. "I was stumbled upon, last night?"

At this, Iroh nodded, and so Katya continued. "By a trio. The Avatar and his companions." At this, Iroh's eyes widened for a moment. "I adopted a defensive stance, but attacked the Water Tribe boy after my anger snapped at his words. I defeated the Water Tribe people, after being attacked by the girl first, but couldn't bring myself to attack the Avatar. It was then that the soldiers came upon me, and I engaged in combat, telling the Avatar to escape, and he did so with his companions. Then _ponytail_ and you turned up and that's it. Now, where am I exactly?"

Several moments passed as Iroh absorbed the information, before he brought himself to respond to her. "You are on Prince Zuko's ship. We are currently heading to a port to make some repairs and gather some much-needed supplies." At this, Iroh winked.

Katya returned to her cold shell, and looked at Iroh, no emotion showing on her face, before a sigh broke the awkward silence that had filled the room. "I don't even know why I just told you all that, I've never told anybody."

This caused Iroh to smile and then bow his head at Katya who had begun to take a sip of her tea, nearly causing her to choke as she stared in surprise at him. "I am honoured that you told me this, Katya."

Katya sighed once more, finding herself doing it a lot more frequently lately, and it was becoming aggravating to her. She missed the good old days that she spent cheering at her television, watching Avatar.

"This is much cooler than the old days though." Katya muttered, causing Iroh to raise an eyebrow.

"Pardon?" He asked, causing Katya to look up at him and shake her head.

"Nothing." She offered a smile.

Iroh gazed at her for a few seconds, before finishing his tea, and Katya held out her empty tea cup, which Iroh accepted happily, before standing up from his kneeling position, having dropped into that position when Katya had begun to explain what had happened to her. He knew that she was keeping something secret, and he concluded that it was probably something to do with her time at the mining village, though Iroh could probably think what happened to her during her stay there, he didn't actually want to go into deep thought about it. Worry was evident on his face, catching the attention of Katya.

"Is something wrong, Iroh?" Katya asked, and noticed that Iroh's expression instantly hid the obvious feeling of worry that Iroh was feeling.

Several moments passed before Iroh sighed, and looked at her. Her eyes widened for a brief moment as she came to a conclusion upon what he may be about to ask. "Did they..."

His sentence trailed off, evidently he was uncomfortable with finishing the sentence, and it was then that Katya noticed his features contorted with pity. "No. They didn't. It's alright Iroh."

His expression of pity dropped, changing to a smile as he turned towards the door, hesitating for a moment, before moving towards the table, and placing Katya's tea cup on the table as well as the tea pot, and looked at the young girl, a smile on his face.

"I believe you've been cooped up in here long enough, how about some fresh air?" Iroh asked, offering a hand to Katya, who accepted it, and the two of them made their way to the upper deck.

The bright light hit her as she exited the lower deck, causing her to squint to be able to see anything, several moments passing before her eyesight adjusted to the brightness, and she was able to stop squinting to actually see. The deck was almost empty, apart from a lone figure staring out at the sea, who Katya instantly recognised as Zuko, a smile creeping onto her face upon spotting the Banished Prince.

Katya glanced at Iroh, who was looking at her knowingly, smiling at her, and nodded at her, making his way to the other side of the deck as Katya made her way over to Zuko. She leaned against the rail, still surprised that Zuko had yet to notice her as he gazed out at the water.

"Hey _Ponytail._" Katya called, causing Zuko to jump in shock, before his gaze turned to her, his face instantly contorting into a scowl upon looking at her.

"Would you stop calling me Ponytail? It's annoying." Zuko snapped, causing Katya to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You, _Ponytail_." Katya sighed, a large smile on her face. "You get so angry at the smallest of things. I find it _cute_."

Katya mentally facepalmed when she had fallen silent, as it was too late for her to take back what she had said, and she could see that Zuko was glaring at her, anger swelling within him, his face turning red in colour.

"I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation. Nothing about me should even be cute, little girl. I would like it if you'd refrain from calling me Ponytail, it's aggravating." Zuko snarled.

"Little girl? _Ponytail,_ if you hadn't noticed, I'm only an inch shorter than you." Katya retorted, looking directly into Zuko's eyes. She couldn't help but blush as she gazed into his eyes, the smell of smoke reaching her nostrils, and she realised it was Zuko that smelled like smoke, and a smile rose on her face.

"I was referring to your maturity. You act like a little girl. Maybe I'll have to spank you, that'll get some sense knocked into you, and stop you acting like a little girl, and calling me Ponytail." Zuko snapped, and Katya burst out laughing.

"Oh, you would certainly _enjoy _spanking me wouldn't you?" Katya taunted, causing Zuko to blush slightly as he turned to look back at the water. "I must apologise if my humour makes me seem immature to an obnoxious, self-centered Prince such as yourself, _Ponytail_. You probably wouldn't find your sense of humour even if it danced in front of you doing the Macarena."

For a moment, Zuko was caught off guard, confusion clear on his face as he turned his gaze to look back at Katya once more. "Macarena?"

Several moments later however, Zuko had recovered, and anger flared on his face once more, his face glowing a bright red as his anger threatened to explode.

"I think it's about time somebody taught you proper manners to show a _Royal_." Zuko growled, and grabbed onto Katya's arm, dragging her to the sparring arena, and he let her go as he made his way away from her, to the other side, turning to face her as he entered a defensive stance.

"Woah, wait-" was all that Katya could mutter, before she had been dragged to the sparring ring, and she nervously looked at Zuko as he dropped into his stance, and she copied him, noting that Iroh was observing the events with amused interest, though he was rather close, almost as if he were prepared to stop things quickly if they got out of hand.

It was then that Zuko launched a flurry of fireball attacks at Katya, who ducked and dodged left and right to avoid the fireballs, not firing back, allowing Zuko to send some fire arcs hurtling towards Katya through a series of kicks. Katya winced in pain slightly as she raised her arms to create a wall of fire which negated the arcs of fire, before she kicked her leg forward, sending the wall of fire surging towards Zuko.

Zuko braced himself, the flames hitting his arms, causing him to be pushed back an inch, before the flames collapsed into nothing, having not even damaged him. A smirk rose on his lips as he leapt towards Katya, much like he had done the last time they had fought, and Katya waited. Just before Zuko was going to hit her, Katya front flipped over him, landing behind him before creating a spiral of flames in front of her, and flung it at Zuko.

The spiral of fire crashed into his back, flinging him across the deck as he crashed into the side of the ship, but he was up as quickly as he had been knocked down, unleashing a relentless flurry of attacks, a mixture of kicks and punches, at her, sending fireballs flying towards her, causing her to be on the back foot, defending against the fireballs. She could see the faintest traces of sweat gripping to Zuko's face, and that he was breathing heavily.

Katya smirked. Her stamina was holding up much better than Zuko's since she was doing much less energy sapping work than he was. Zuko was exerting his energy on mercilessly attacking her, whilst she was using smaller bursts of energy to protect herself. After several moments of deflecting attacks, Katya saw her moment, and punched the ground, staying in a crouched position as flames surged out of her arm, and around the area of the ship's deck where she had punched, before the flames hurtled towards Zuko, appearing to catch him by surprise.

It was then that Zuko leapt forward so fast that Katya couldn't react as she felt heat engulf her right shoulder, and a hiss of pain escaped her mouth as she skidded across the deck, the skin on the back of her legs getting scraped off by the metal, leaving raw skin in its place. She tried to stand, but ended up collapsing back to the deck, wincing in pain. Zuko stepped forward, a smirk clear on his face, his fists aimed at her, flames surging.

Iroh was making his way to intervene but was stopped when Katya lunged out, knocking Zuko onto his feet with one swift move, and was now sat on top of him, and she smirked down at him as she aimed her fists at his face. A blush slowly rose its way onto Zuko's cheeks, causing Katya to glance down, realising that she was straddling his hips, and she blushed too, when she was suddenly flung off of Zuko, landing against the side of the deck with a thud as Zuko was on his feet once more, sending a series of fireballs flying towards her.

Katya leapt to her feet, and kicked the fireballs away, before entering a crouched stance, keeping her center of gravity low as she focused on what she was about to do. She breathed out heavily, knowing that Zuko was charging towards her, prepared to unleash an attack upon her, and a smirk appeared on her face as she opened her mouth, and flames exploded from the opening, slamming into Zuko and sending him clattering to the ground. She closed her mouth after several moments and charged forward, grabbing Zuko's wrists and holding them down to the deck above his head as she sat upon him once more, not paying attention to the fact that she was straddling him once more.

Zuko squirmed beneath her, but was unable to break away, and since his wrists were being held above his head, he was unable to bend, leaving him defenseless. He slumped in defeat, which allowed Katya to stand up, a smirk on her face as she held out a hand for Zuko to accept.

"Looks like I won, _Ponytail_." Katya chuckled, and anger flared in Zuko's eyes once more as he shot up, grabbing a hold of Katya.

She soon found herself pulled close to Zuko, her hands held tightly above her head like she had done to Zuko to win the spar, duel, she did not know. His other arm was wrapped around her waist, and had trapped her in the close proximity to Zuko. She looked to the floor as her cheeks burnt bright red, and a cough nearby brought both her attention and Zuko's attention away what they were looking at, and they found themselves looking at Iroh.

"It seems you still have a lot to learn, you let yourself fall into some basic traps, nephew." Iroh stated as Zuko let go of Katya, who was still blushing furiously as she stared at the ground once more. "You fought well Katya, I'm surprised you're as good as you are in just four years, and you even know how to breathe fire! Did I ever tell you why they call me the Dragon of the West?"

Katya looked up at Iroh, her face now bursting with a smile, the blush that previously had been etched on her face had since disappeared. "No you didn't, but I think I may have an idea."

Iroh looked at Katya knowingly, offering her a smile, which she returned, whilst Zuko looked from one to the other, confusion on his face, before his features formed a scowl once more as Zuko looked at Katya.

"I still don't trust you, girl." Zuko snapped. "I still want to know how you knew what happened back home. Only a rare few knew what happened, and you seemed to know more than you actually mentioned."

Katya sighed as she looked from Zuko to Iroh, who merely shrugged as if to say: _It's up to you._ With a shrug, she turned to look at Zuko, and explained everything to him, like she had done with Iroh, though in a bit of a shorter version. A look on confusion was across Zuko's face as he thought things over.

"I find it hard to believe you're from another world." Zuko stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's not that hard to believe, _Ponytail. _I mean, I did already survive falling from the sky." Katya sighed, noticing that Zuko now uncrossed his arms, his body tensing at the nickname she had given him, a low growl sounding from Zuko's throat.

It was as Katya looked at Zuko that she noticed his gaze dropped for a moment down to her chest, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious, and folded her arms across her chest, though she winced in pain as she did so, feeling the burn on her shoulder. Zuko looked at her, noticing the expression of pain on her face, though did not say anthing. The two stared at each other for several moments, their gazes having locked with one another, when they were suddenly snapped back to reality as a voice broke the silence.

"Prince Zuko, we are nearing the port! The Commander is expecting you, I can see him from here!" the lookout up in the crows' nest called.

Katya's eyes widened at the statement, going deep into thought. It couldn't possibly be the Commander she was thinking of. There was no way. She praised to Agni that it was not the Commander she knew about. Fear creeped onto her face, and Iroh noticed this, stepping towards Katya, moving to assure her, however, his gaze followed hers as her eyes widened, and he saw who she was looking at.

Standing on the deck was none other than the very man with ridiculous sideburns that she had feared would be there. Fear engulfed her and she shivered as she looked at the man, who seemed to be looking directly at _her_, a smirk evident on his face as he gazed in the direction of Zuko's ship. Katya still was in shock, unable to believe that it was Commander Zhao awaiting the arrival of Prince Zuko's ship, as well as its extra 'member', her. She was very unnerved, and she shivered in fear once more as she stared at Commander Zhao.


	3. Agni Kai

**A/N: I do not own Avatar. I do, however, own Katya.**

**Chapter 3: Agni Kai**

Katya tensed as she felt a hand on her shoulder, glancing to her right to look at Iroh, whose gentle gaze seemed to settle her growing fear down. She smiled weakly at Iroh for a second as the ship docked, a bridge being attached to the wooden walkway that Zhao was currently standing on, the smirk still on his face as he gazed towards the occupants of the boat.

"Prince Zuko, Zhao will probably be wondering why our ship is damaged." Iroh whispered to Zuko, whose scowl darkened as they slowly walked towards the bridge that would take them onto the walkway.

"We can't tell him we found the Avatar." Zuko whispered back, before stopping and glancing back at Katya. "You, return to your room. One of you men, escort her."

"Trying to keep me safe from the evil Commander are you, _Ponytail?_" She teased, smirking as Zuko's face reddened in anger. "Relax, I was teasing you. You're not really good with humour are you?"

Zuko ignored her as he stepped onto the bridge, heading off the ship, leaving Katya alone with some random crew member. She turned to look at the man, who offered a smile to her, and she raised an eyebrow at him.  
"What's so funny?" Katya queried, narrowing her eyes to look at the man, who smiled softly at her.

"Sweetheart, teasing Prince Zuko will not help you at all." the man laughed as he started walking, and Katya hurried to follow him as he guided her towards her room.

"Sweetheart?" Katya chuckled, smirking. "Pretty bold for a soldier aren't you? I bet I could kick your ass in a fight."

"Sadly, I am not a betting man. And you're one to talk, you're pretty bold for a prisoner." The man retorted, causing Katya to chuckle again.

"Do all of Zuko's _prisoners_ get to roam the ship so freely?" Katya asked, to which the man shook his head. "Then why am I getting this special treatment?"

"Probably because General Iroh has taken a liking to you, and you haven't tried to escape at all." The man offered, shrugging his shoulders.

They had arrived at her room, and he opened the door, stepping out of the way to allow her to enter the room. It was too well furbished to be a prison cell, and she smirked as she turned to look at the man who was now standing in the doorway, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Pretty fancy room for a prisoner." Katya stated.

"You could say that." The man responded, smiling.

"Why am I being treated as if I were a part of the crew, when I'm a prisoner?" Katya asked, causing the man to laugh.

"What is this, twenty questions?" The man said, leaning against the doorway.

"If I said yes, would you continue answering?" Katya probed, tilting her head.

"Is that a question? You only have a limited number, and you've already used up a lot." The man sighed, smirking.

"You still have yet to answer my previous question. About being treated as a crew member? This room is obviously one a crew member would be sleeping in." Katya pointed out, to which the man nodded as he contemplated his answer.

"As I said before, General Iroh has taken a liking to you. He feels you need to be treated fairly, like every member of the crew on this ship." The man answered. "Now, I must request that you allow me to leave, I have other matters to attend on this ship besides playing a game with you."

Katya nodded, watching as the man turned to leave, before speaking. "Uh... What's your name"

The man stopped walking for a moment, glancing back, offering a smile, before continuing to walk. Katya almost slumped in defeat, expecting him not to answer, nearly jumping when his voice broke the silence in the air.

"Jee. Now, you must remain here until General Iroh and Prince Zuko return" The man offered, before closing the door behind him.

Katya sighed, slumping down onto the bed in the room, staring up at the ceiling. She waited several moments, before letting out a squeal of excitement that she had been forcing herself not to do ever since she had discovered she was on Prince Zuko's ship. It was like a dream for her, even if he was a pompous, self-centered man. She smiled as she closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, the faint remnants of Zuko's smoky scent clinging to Katya's senses.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his tail." Zuko muttered quietly to Iroh.

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh asked, seemingly oblivious.

Zuko mentally facepalmed, and turned to face his uncle. "Don't mention his name on these docks! Once word gets out that he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way!"

A cough sounded from Zuko's left, and the duo turned towards the sound in shock, seeing Zhao standing there, smirking. "Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko mentally cursed, praying that Zhao had not heard him mention the Avatar, and instead tried to ignore the question.

"Captain Zhao." Zuko muttered, obvious distaste for Zhao evident in his tone.

"It's _commander_ now and," Zhao responded, bowing towards Iroh. "General Iroh, Great hero of the nation."

Iroh returned the bow. "_Retired_ General."

"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao asked, his arms behind his back.

"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh answered, gesturing towards their damaged ship behind him, which Zhao glanced at, raising at eyebrow at the extensive damage.

"That's quite a bit of damage." Zhao said, narrowing his eyes, as he noticed some burns, a smirk rising on his lips.

"Yes, You wouldn't believe what happened." Zuko glanced at Iroh, before angrily demanding. "Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened!"

Iroh glanced at Zuko for a moment, a surprised expression on his face. "Yes I will do that. It was incredible!"

Iroh waved his hands around as if emphasising the grand extent of how incredible it had actually been, before glancing at his nephew again, whispering to him. "What? Did we crash or something?"

Zuko looked at his uncle, discomfort clear in his expression. "Yes! Right into..." he hesitated for a moment. "An Earth Kingdom ship!"

Zhao raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? You must regale me with all of the _thrilling_ details. Join me for a drink?"

Zuko looked away from Zhao, and began walking away. "Sorry, but we have to go."

Zuko had only made it a few steps when a hand gripping his shoulder stopped him, and he turned to look at his uncle, who was gazing at him intently, and Zuko sighed in defeat, not noticing Zhao's smile.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." Iroh muttered, before turning to look at Zhao. "We would be honoured to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favourite."

The two of them began to walk away, Zuko muttering angrily to himself before following them, his rage threatening to boil over, and he nearly launched a blast of fire at Zhao, but managed to restrain himself.

They arrived to a tent where two guards stood outside it, and Zhao beckoned for them to enter, and he waited for Zuko and Iroh to enter, before following behind, making his way to sit in front of the table, facing the two of them, who had taken to sitting on the other side of the table. He poured Iroh a cup of Ginseng tea, before standing up, pacing in front of the map up on the wall, and began talking about his battle plans.

Zuko zoned him out, examining his surroundings, noticing a weapons rack in the corner, which Iroh was now stood next to with his cup of tea in hand. When Zuko looked back to Zhao, he was muttering something about the Earth Kingdom.

"and by the year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." Zhao finished, smirking.

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" Zuko snapped angrily, and Zhao smirked as he stopped alongside Zuko, and leaned down towards him.

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue. So, how is your search for the Avatar going?" Zhao asked, staring intently at Zuko.

The two of them were startled by something falling behind them, and they turned round to see the weapons rack now on the floor, and a clumsy Iroh standing sheepishly next to it. "Eh... my fault. Entirely."

"We haven't found him yet." Zuko growled.

"Did you really expect to? The Avatar _died_ a hundred years ago. Along with the rest of the airbenders. Unless you have found some evidence that the Avatar is alive?" Zhao smirked.

"No" Zuko snarled, meeting Zhao's stare, before staring straight in front of him. "Nothing."

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an _ounce_ of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found."

Zuko looked up at Zhao angrily. "I haven't found anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on Uncle, we're going."

Zuko made to leave, but Zhao placed a hand on his chest as two soldiers walked in, dragging a figure clad in a red and black robe, with the Fire Nation emblem on the left side of the chest. It was quite clear the figure was a female, and Zuko's eyes widened when he recognised the figure as Katya.

"And what is this then?" Zhao asked, motioning to Katya.

"Our prisoner." Zuko snapped. "I would like it if you returned the prisoner now."

"She looks like a Water Tribe. And she's your prisoner." Zhao started to talk, causing Zuko to look at him confused. "You do remember the Avatar cycle right? Water comes after Air. What's to say the Air Avatar managed to survive the purging, and died not too many years ago, bringing the cycle to the Water Tribe, or more specifically, this girl?"

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise, and a smirk rose on his lips as he looked at Zhao. "Zhao, you are mistaken. This girl is from a Fire Nation Colony in one of the Southern islands of the Earth Kingdom that we stopped at for supplies before encountering the Earth Kingdom ship."

Just then, a third soldier entered the tent. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody-"

"And is in this very tent with us." Zhao smirked, moving towards Katya to grip her chin in his hand, lifting her head to look up at him, fear and defiance all over her face.

"-but they let him escape." the soldier finished, causing Zhao to turn his head to look at the soldier in surprise.

"What?" Zhao muttered, before gathering himself. "Now remind me, how, exactly, was your ship damaged?"

"You think you're all big and scary, Zhao, but you're just an arrogant twit!" Katya snarled, causing Zhao to storm over towards her, violently grabbing her by the throat, tightening his grip, fear instantly spreading onto her face.

"It seems that I _am_ big and scary after all." Zhao smirked, releasing his tight grip from around Katya's throat, before turning towards Zuko, awaiting an answer.

Zuko bowed his head in defeat. "We found the Avatar. A twelve year old Airbender. He used his airbending to escape, causing ice to fall onto our ship, damaging it."

"So, a twelve year old boy bested you and your firebenders?" Zhao smirked. "You're more pathetic than I thought."

"He's more of a man than you are Zhao." Katya snapped, but a quick glare from Zhao had her squirming to try and get away from Zhao.

"I underestimated him once, but it will _not_ happen again."

"No it will not. Because you won't have a second chance." Zhao almost laughed, but refrained from doing so as he paced towards Zuko.

"Commander Zhao. I have been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-"

"And you failed! Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now."

"That _teenager_ is better than you Zhao! He WILL capture the Avatar!" Katya snarled, anger flaring up inside of her.

Zhao span round and backhanded Katya, the sound of the slap echoing in the tent, a red mark clear on Katya's cheek, pain shuddering through her body, eyes prickling with tears, though she refused to cry. "_You_ shall be quiet, Earth Kingdom scum."

Katya's eyes widened in rage as she tried to bite Zhao, who pulled his hand out of reach, smirking at her. "Oh did I hit a nerve, you mud-slinger? You're not fit to shine my boots."

"If you're so confident, then I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" Katya shouted, and Zhao burst out laughing.

"If you're happy with me burning you to a cinder, then I will be happy to oblige. You're a fool, mud-slinger." Zhao snickered.

"Zhao, Leave her alone!" Zuko snarled, grabbing Zhao's attention.

"And what does Fire Lord Ozai's _failure_ of a son want? His _girlfriend_ to be spared? How pathetic, falling in love with some dirty vagrant from the Earth Kingdom. Your father would never want you back." Zhao smirked.

"You don't know my father!" Zuko snapped. "And she is NOT my girlfriend! She is a MY prisoner! I will fight you in the Agni Kai in her place. Sunset."

Zhao looked from Katya, to Zuko, smirking. "Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle will do."

"There is of course, one stipulation." Zuko stated, causing Zhao to look back at him, having turned to leave. "Release my prisoner. Iroh will watch over her."

Zhao simply nodded, and Katya was released, and shoved towards Iroh, who placed an arm round her shoulder as she shuddered, avoiding placing her gaze upon Zhao. For some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to look at the man. It was as if fear itself physically prevented her from doing so.

Zhao left the tent, followed by his soldiers, leaving Iroh,Katya and Zuko alone. Iroh glanced at Katya, who weakly smiled at him, before he stepped forward, looking sternly at Zuko.

"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko responded.

"Zuko, you _will_ win. I know it." Katya tried to encourage Zuko, who didn't even look at her as he walked out of the tent, causing her expression to change into one of anger. "Fine, ignore me _Ponytail,_ see if I care!"

Iroh smiled at her, motioning for her to walk with him, and they exited the tent. Time seemed to pass quickly, and soon they found themselves in an open area where Zuko and Zhao stood about eighteen yards across from one another, ready to begin the Agni Kai. Katya stood next to Iroh, anxiously awaiting the Agni Kai to start. From her memory, the events that had played out in the tent were not what she remembered, and they most likely differed due to her presence.

"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."

Katya remained silent, refusing to offer any sort of encouragement to Zuko, still angry with him for having ignored her earlier.

"I refuse to let him win." Zuko remarked, calmly, and he stood up and turned around, the scarf around his shoulders dropping to the floor, Zhao doing the same, turning to face him, his own scarf now on the floor as well.

"This will be over quickly." Zhao whispered confidently.

A gong rang as the duo entered their stances, and Zuko immediately went on the offensive, firing a trio of medium-sized fireballs at Zhao, who dodged them all easily. Zhao went for a fire punch to the gut, however Zuko managed to leap backwards, avoiding the punch, and launched a slash of fire through the air, which Zhao blocked as he raised his arms to absorb the flame, before unleashing the flames back upon Zuko, much stronger than before.

Zuko leapt over the arc, landing in a crouched position as he sweeped his leg across the floor. Zhao managed to dodge, landing a fire punch to Zuko's left shoulder, causing him to wince in pain as he stumbled backwards, stunned by the attack. Zhao was on him once more, plowing his foot into Zuko's stomach, nearly causing him to vomit up the food he had consumed hours earlier. He nearly fell onto his knees, looking around as Zhao had disappeared from his view.

"ZUKO, ON YOUR LEFT REAR!" a female shout rang out, and Zuko span round, unleashing a ferocious flaming kick to Zhao's abdomen as he tried to sneak attack Zuko from behind him on the left.

Zuko went for an uppercut, flames circling around his fist, the punch connecting with Zhao's jaw and flinging him through the air, and he landed in a crouched position in front of Zuko, struggling to stand up as Zuko charged at him, unleashing a quick barrage of small fireballs. The fireballs peppered Zhao's left flank, before another roundhouse kick slammed into his abdomen, sending him flying through the air, crumpling to the floor after crashing into a nearby wall.

Zuko fired a larger fireball at Zhao's crumpled body, flames seemingly enveloping it, before collapsing in on themselves, revealing Zhao to be gone. Looking around, Zuko could not spot him, when he was suddenly sent to the floor, Zhao standing behind him, his fists flaming, having slammed them into the back of Zuko's skull. Zuko struggled to stand up, as Zhao unleashed a barrage of fireballs upon him, standing over him, leaving him trapped.

Zuko's memories went back to his duel earlier with Katya, when she had feigned injury, luring him in, and then dropped him to the floor with a single sweep. Zuko sweeped his leg underneath Zhao, knocking him off his face, surprise on his face as Zuko stood triumphantly above Zhao, aiming his fists at Zhao.

"Do it!" Zhao snarled.

Zuko grunted, firing just to the side of Zhao's head, scorching the earth right next to him, but not harming him.

"That's it? Your father raised a coward." Zhao spat, smirking.

"Next time you get in my way, I promise, I won't hold back." Zuko informed him, glaring angrily at the defeated Commander.

Zuko turned away from Zhao, and began to walk away, not noticing that Zhao had stood up, facing away from him, and then snapped around, attempting to unleash an attack upon Zuko.

"LOOK OUT!" Katya shouted, causing Zuko to duck as a flurry of flames surged through the air where he had just been, and Iroh moved forward, grasping Zhao's leg, causing the fire to dissipate.

Iroh tossed Zhao back, leaving him to skid across the floor, looking up at Iroh, anger clear on both Iroh's and Zuko's faces. Zuko made to charge at Zhao, but Iroh intervened, blocking his path.

"No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory." Iroh stated, ushering Zuko away, and they joined Katya, beginning to walk away, though Iroh glanced back at Zhao, shaking his head. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful."

Katya tensed herself, awaiting Iroh's next words, a smile etching on her face as they came.

"Even in exile, my nephew is more honourable than you. Thanks again for the tea, it was delicious." Iroh smiled, and as the three walked up the bridge, Zuko turned to look at Iroh.

"Did you really mean that, Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"Of course. I told you Ginseng tea was my favourite." Iroh smiled, and Katya chuckled lightly, causing the two of them to look at her, eyebrows raised, and she instantly threw her hands up in the air defensively.

"I think it's quite sweet how you two interact." Katya smiled. "Didn't think you had it in you, _Ponytail._"

Anger instantly exploded from Zuko, who turned to glare at Katya. "You will refrain from speaking! You are MY prisoner! As such, you are to address me as Prince Zuko, stop with these foolish nicknames, _peasant._"

"Prisoner? I'm _your _prisoner!?" Katya asked, bursting out laughing. "Please, if I was a prisoner, you're doing a very bad job of keeping me under lock and key. I could have escaped with ease several times already. I could beat you in a fight and run, fleeing, or use you as a hostage. I am NOT your prisoner, I am not here to entertain your _fetishes_ for a prisoner, I am here to drink tea and play Pai Sho with Iroh. So, calm down _Pretty Boy._"

Zuko stood there stunned as Katya walked past him, and looked at his uncle, who was struggling to supress a grin, and Zuko turned back towards Katya, storming after her, his grasp tightening around her left arm, pulling her towards him until their faces were almost touching. Katya had to resist to not sniff his scent in like an animal, his smoky scent entering her nostrils, bringing a smile to her face.

"Hey, I know you're into these fetishes and what not, but I'd prefer it if you didn't get all touchy feely with me." Katya teased, causing Zuko's face to darken.

"You are the most aggravating person I have ever met in my life!" Zuko snarled. "You are... you are worse than Azula! You are arrogant, full of yourself, immature and a weakling-"

"Oh my, worse than Azula, my heart bleeds." Katya feigned hurt at the words, her eyebrow raising when she noticed Zuko's features softened.

"And you pretty much saved my life during the Agni Kai." Zuko admitted, causing Katya to blush, her hormones apparently deciding to come into effect now, even though they had been in close proximity to one another for several minutes now, Iroh just watching them with amusement. "I...I must apologise for losing my temper. I'm sure Uncle would like it if you joined our crew. Officially."

Katya smirked, and leaned closer towards Zuko, their noses almost touching, causing Zuko to lean back. "And what do _you_ think of me joining the crew?"

Zuko bit his lip, before responding. "The more crew, the more efficiently we work."

Katya smirked as Zuko let her go, and stormed off, and she watched him as he strided off, her gaze going over his body, her smirk growing larger. She enjoyed teasing him, but was startled by a cough from behind her, turning sheepishly to look at Iroh who was grinning at her.

"So," Iroh began, walking towards Katya. "you and Zuko are bonding well"

Katya blushed, avoiding Iroh's gaze, cursing mentally, wondering if she really were that obvious. "Uh... I have things I need to do."

With that, Katya hurried off in the direction of the lower deck, deciding to head to her room, leaving Iroh alone on the upper deck, still grinning like an idiot. Katya collapsed onto her bed, her blush growing more intense as she thought about Zuko, not noticing the ship had begun to move, and leave the dock. She wondered if he would reciprocate her feelings, or reject her because she was a peasant and he were a prince. She wondered if things would work between them if they were to get together, or if problems would arise. Katya soon drifted off to sleep, a smile on her face, and a lone word escaping her mouth as she fell asleep.

"Zuko..." She gasped.


	4. Kyoshi Island

**A/N**: **I do not own Avatar. However, I do own Katya.**

**Chapter 4- Kyoshi Island**

Zuko hesitated at the door way, looking down at Katya's sleeping body, a confused expression on his face, as he tried to piece together why Katya had just muttered his name before she had fallen asleep. He meant to ask her, but the sight of her lying on her bed so peacefully prevented Zuko from speaking, and he turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He'd been meaning to ask her something, but now that he had been distracted by her peaceful sleeping, and had left her there, he had completely forgotten what he was going to ask. He sighed, shrugging his shoulders, concluding that if he had forgotten, that it wasn't important.

Several hours passed by, and Katya's eyes snapped open as she sat up in her bed, looking around the room as she gathered her senses. With a sigh, she leant her head back against the wall, deep in thought, when Zuko's voice echoed through the wall. It was just then that Katya realized her room was next to Zuko's and a blush rose on her cheeks, before shaking her head, remaining in her current position, listening to what was going on in the room next to hers.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me, is if you have news about the Avatar." Zuko remarked calmly.

"Well, there is news," Iroh's voice rose up as he entered the room. "Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset."

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

Katya giggled, shaking her head at what Zuko said. The Banished Prince couldn't even handle her joking, so bad news wouldn't help.

"Okay then." Iroh hesitated for a moment. "We have no idea where he is."

Katya had to stop herself from collapsing into hysterics. That had to be the most perfect news to deliver to Zuko, and Katya used all her might to prevent herself from laughing so that she would be able to hear Zuko's response, though there wasn't much need to do so, as Zuko's voice exploded.

"What?" Zuko roared, clearly enraged.

"You really should open a window in here." Iroh fanned himself, acting calmly.

"Give me the map!" Zuko snapped, and Katya could hear some rustling, obviously the map.

"Well, there have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down."

"How am I going to find him, Uncle?" Zuko asked, pausing to examine the map. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

Katya burst out giggling, shaking her head, and couldn't help herself in speaking up. "He's a twelve year old boy, _Ponytail_."

Silence greeted Katya, until several moments later her door slammed open, revealing the angry Prince glaring at her, his calm uncle stood behind him.

"_Ponytail,_ common courtesy is to knock. I could have been undressed for all you knew. Weren't you the one going on about respect earlier?" Katya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I am the captain of this ship, I can go where I please." Zuko snapped.

"And if I had been in the nude, you would have met Agni prematurely." Katya smirked. "I know you must be excited to have a woman on board, _Ponytail,_ but you're going to have to court me if you're that interested in me."

"Court you? You're a peasant!" Zuko growled, causing Katya to laugh.

"And you're a Banished Prince, _Ponytail,_ you're basically on the same tier as me when it comes to the Fire Nation." Katya joked, smiling.

"Since when am I on the same tier as a peasant?" Zuko snapped.

"Since you were banished. You're not considered a part of the Royal family anymore, and what comes below the Royal family? Peasants. Seriously, _Ponytail,_ what did they teach you at that hair grooming school of yours?" Katya smirked, and raised a hand to stop Zuko from speaking when he meant to provide a response. "I think I can guess where the Avatar will be."

Zuko's eyes widened as he grabbed a hold of Katya's shoulders. "Where is he?"

Katya paused for several moments, deep in thought as she tried to recollect her memories, she cursed mentally as she was unable to recall, and glanced down at the map in Zuko's hands, spotting the words _Kyoshi Island_ and her eyes widened upon recognizing the words. "There's an island called Kyoshi on this route he's taking."

"And what would make him go to Kyoshi? It's full of unimportant non-benders." Zuko shook his head. "He's trying to throw us off course."

"_Ponytail_, like I said earlier, he's twelve. What do twelve year old boys enjoy doing?" Katya asked, looking deep into Zuko's eyes, awaiting an answer.

"When I was twelve, I trained in firebending." Zuko responded.

"And?" Katya asked, expecting more.

"And I played with the turtleducks." Zuko continued, bringing Katya to nod.

"He's going to places with interesting animals to play with." Katya stated. "And Kyoshi Island is on the route. Does it have any animals that somebody would want to play with or ride?"

"Well, there are the elephant koi, as well as some creature called the Unagi." Zuko muttered, before narrowing his eyes as he looked at Katya. "How did you know all this?"

Katya shrugged in response, offering a sheepish smile. "Lucky guess."

"This still doesn't prove he's there. We're not going to be detouring off our course without solid proof." Zuko snapped, and it was at that moment that Iroh came rushing out of the nearby door, gasping for breath.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island." Iroh gasped.

Katya smirked as Zuko looked from her to his uncle, a look of shock on his face. "Well come on, let's set sail, and catch us the Avatar!"

Several hours went by, and the sun had long since risen. Katya strode back out onto the deck, followed moments later by Iroh, the two of them joining Zuko who was stood at the front of the deck, a monocular held up to his good eye as he scanned the horizon. Katya smiled, before beginning her training, crouching into an Earthbender stance, and punching forward, unleashing a burst of flames, and drawing Zuko's attention.

"It'd be nice if you didn't draw attention to us." Zuko stated, shaking his head.

"_Ponytail,_ we're on a Fire Nation ship. There's no way they won't notice us." Katya retorted, folding her arms over her chest as she glared daggers at Zuko.

Zuko opened his mouth to argue, but stopped, and turned back round, lifting the monocular back to his good eye as he scanned the beach that the ship was fast approaching. Several moments later, he dropped his hand, closing the monocular, and span round and walked past Katya.

"Ready the rhinos!" Zuko shouted.

"I'm coming with you." Katya said as she ran to come alongside Zuko, who glared at her.

"You're staying on this ship." Zuko snapped.

"I'm going onto Kyoshi Island, _Ponytail,_ I willingly joined your crew to assist in capturing the Avatar, so I'm not going to sit around on this ship and let you have all the fun." Katya responded, continuing to follow Zuko.

"Fine, whatever, but you need to stop calling me Ponytail! You must address me suitably as I am your commanding officer." Zuko said, angrily.

"Okay, _Hothead._" Katya smirked as they entered the room where four Komodo Rhinos were stood, three of them with occupants already on them, with one with none on. "Looks like I'm riding shotgun with you, _Ponytail."_

Zuko struggled to resist facepalming, before looking at Katya, confusion etched on his face. "Riding shotgun?"

Katya looked back at Zuko, before shrugging. "It's a phrase that means to ride as passenger, or something like that. Hurry up, _Ponytail,_ the Avatar may already be trying to escape."

Katya climbed up onto the rhino, shuffling back in the saddle, allowing Zuko to climb onto it in front of her, and he grabbed a hold of the reins as the bowsprit of the ship began to open, landing with a thud on the sand, and the Komodo Rhinos were ushered forward by their riders.

Zuko glanced back at his men as they rode out. "I want the Avatar _alive_."

As they approached the town, Katya couldn't help but notice that the streets were deserted. Zuko stopped at the base of Kyoshi's statue, and looked around.

"Come out, Avatar!" Zuko shouted. "You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko looked around one more time, before turning to look at his soldiers. "Find him."

The other riders began to move forward, heading down the deserted street. When they were about halfway down, three of the riders were taken out by women clad in green armour, and white and red facepaint adorned their faces. One of the riders still on a rhino reacted quickly, trying to stab one of the Kyoshi warriors with his spear, but his jab was deflected by a fan, and he was then knocked off the rhino, and crashed to the floor in a heap. The other Fire Nation soldiers were quickly dealt with, leaving Katya and Zuko as the only two still standing.

Katya leapt off of the rhino, landing with a loud thud, before glancing back at Zuko. "I'll take care of them, _Ponytail._ You got company." Katya pointed to the Kyoshi warrior rushing towards him and he proceeded to launch a fireball at her, which she dodged, before continuing her charge at Zuko.

Katya ran forward, leaping over the lunge of one of the warriors, landing behind them, and slamming her foot into their back, flames circling her leg as the Kyoshi warrior slumped to the floor, before she smashed her leg back on the ground, bringing a whirlwind of flames to shoot forward, taking out two of the Kyoshi warriors in front of her. One of the Kyoshi warriors ran towards her, releasing a manly cry, causing Katya to raise an eyebrow as she punched the warrior in the gut, causing them to fall onto their knees, as they were winded.

Katya stared at the downed warrior for several seconds, her eyes widening. "Well, well, looks like _Pretty Boy_ learnt some moves since the last time I kicked his butt."

Sokka raised his head to look at Katya, his eyes widening as he recognized her, and she smirked as she delivered a kick to his face, sending him crashing to the floor, defeated. Katya turned to look at Zuko, who had dealt with what appeared to be the Kyoshi warrior's leader, and smiled.

"Nice try, Avatar! But these little girls can't save you." Zuko called.

"Hey! Over here!" a voice called out, and Katya's gaze turned to the origin of the voice, spotting Aang.

"Finally!" Zuko shouted, and rushed forward, shooting two fireballs at Aang as Katya ran forward too.

Aang ducked underneath the first fireball, and destroyed the second with a twirl of his staff. Katya slammed her foot on the ground, before leaping into the air and over the whirlwind of flames now hurtling towards Aang, who readied his staff to destroy the whirlwind, before Katya moved her hands to her flanks, causing the whirlwind to break apart, and surround Aang, and then she slapped her hands back together, causing the flames to shoot in rapidly towards Aang.

Aang broke through the flames, spinning his staff quickly, as he landed on the ground, bringing her staff to destroy a fireball launched at him by Zuko. Zuko charged forward, and kicked the staff out of Aang's hands and launched a fireball at Aang, who managed to leap out of the way, landing next to two downed Kyoshi warriors. Aang bent down and picked up a fan that the warriors had been using, and began to spin around, gathering momentum as Zuko charged towards him.

Katya's eyes widened, upon realizing what Aang was going to do, and ran forward, slamming her body into Zuko's, sending him crashing to the floor as Aang unleashed the massive blast of air, which crashed into her, causing a yelp to escape her as she went crashing through the wall of a building. Katya felt pain engulf her, and she could feel many splinters piercing his flesh, as well as a warm liquid seeping down her skin, and she landed with a thud on the ground.

Several moments later, and she felt somebody lift her upper body up, and she opened her eyes to see Zuko kneeling over her, a concerned expression on his face, causing Katya to laugh.

"Tell me you got the Avatar, _Ponytail._" Katya groaned, but Zuko responded with a shake of his head.

"Why'd you do that?" Zuko asked.

"Do what?" Katya queried, her eyes narrowing.

"You pushed me out of the way. Why?" Zuko explained.

Katya shrugged. "I didn't want to see you hurt, _Ponytail_."

"What?" Zuko snapped, before shaking his head. "That doesn't matter right now, come on, let's get you up, the Kyoshi warriors are still putting up a fight, and we need to deal with them. You're alright aren't you?"

Katya nodded as Zuko helped her stand up, and she looked down at her body, noticing she was caked in blood, and there were loads of splinters in her visible skin, and she laughed. "Looks like I had a number done on me."

Katya followed Zuko out of the ruined building, and she winced as pain shot through her, but ignored it as she joined Zuko on the street, noticing a nearby firebender get taken out as a fan slammed into his helmet, sending him skidding across the ground. Five Kyoshi warriors rushed down the street, entering into stances upon spotting Katya and Zuko, before running towards them, fans at the ready. Katya crouched into an Earthbender stance, and she breathed in deeply, closing her eyes.

She could hear Zuko unleashing fireballs at the Kyoshi warriors as she breathed out, her eyes snapping open as she slammed her fist to the ground. A wave of fire erupted around her, shooting out in all directions, though it brought no harm to Zuko or the downed firebender. The Kyoshi warriors were sent flying backwards, crashing into objects, and they remained unmoving where they landed, having been incapacitated, as the flames dissipated. A groan filled the air as a large white bison-like animal took to the air, and Katya's eyes locked onto it, firing a fireball at the Air Bison.

"There's the Avatar! Let's get after him!" Katya shouted, grabbing onto Zuko's hand and dragging him after her as she ran in the direction Appa was flying.

Zuko was running alongside her, as they came to the edge of town, where the soldiers that had accompanied them were now gathered, and Katya glanced behind her to see the firebender from earlier running to catch up. Katya turned back to see a figure leap off of Appa, and crash into the water, moments later bringing a large serpent to rise out of the water. Katya's eyes widened as a jet of water erupted from the creature, and she didn't hesitate as she brought a wall of fire to cover her and Zuko, a hissing sound filling the air as the water met the flames.

Zuko turned to look at Katya, raising an eyebrow, before turning his head to see water all over the floor around them. Several moments later, the hissing noise stopped, and Katya dissipated the fire wall, revealing them to be surrounded by drenched soldiers.

"Back to the ship! We must follow the Avatar!" Zuko ordered, and they ran back towards the ship.

Katya followed Zuko as the bowsprit closed, and the ship shuddered into movement, and they arrived on the upper deck, before Zuko span round to glare at Katya as Iroh came stumbling onto the upper deck, though he hung back, seeing that Zuko wanted to talk to Katya.

"Why did you summon that wall of fire?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't want to get wet." Katya responded, shrugging.

"Why cover me then?" Zuko queried, raising an eyebrow.

Again, Katya shrugged. "I thought you wouldn't want to get wet either, _Ponytail._ Is this even important?"

Zuko turned away from her in anger, glaring back at Kyoshi island, before turning back round and shouting at Katya. "I still don't understand why you pushed me out of the way earlier. You got hurt, you're in no condition to be doing anything now!"

Katya chuckled. "I'm fine, I fought off those warriors with ease." It was then that Katya fell down onto one knee, wincing in pain as waves of pain engufled her.

Iroh rushed over to her side, looking from her to Zuko. "What happened?"

Katya opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out apart from a groan of pain. "She pushed me out of the way of an air attack, and she got sent flying through the wall of a building."

Iroh looked back down at Katya, a look of sadness on his face. "She's wounded quite badly. She's going to need a doctor to safely remove all the splinters. She's lost a lot of blood, it's surprising how she's still managed to stay conscious."

As if out of irony, Katya then collapsed, falling into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	5. A Close Encounter

**A/N: I do not own Avatar. I do however, own Katya.**

**Chapter 5- A Close Encounter**

Katya awoke to find herself in her room, and when she tried to sit up, waves of pain surged through her body, and she let out a groan, clenching her teeth before she slumped back onto her back.

"You need to rest, Katya. You are in no state to be moving around." Iroh said, causing Katya's body to jolt in shock as she turned her head to see him sat alongside her bed, a look of worry on his face.

"I'm...fine Iroh." Katya croaked, her voice hoarse from lack of liquid. "You wouldn't happen to have any tea would you?"

Iroh held up a cup of tea with a sheepish grin on his face, and Katya slowly moved her arm to take the cup, a smile on her face as she took a sip of it, letting out a sigh of relief as it flowed down her throat.

"Thank you Iroh." Katya spoke, her voice now less hoarse.

Katya shuffled around on the bed, bringing herself into a sitting position after several minutes. She fiddled with the tea cup in her hands, before looking at Iroh.

"How long was I out for?" Katya asked.

"At least three days." Iroh responded, rubbing the back of his head as he poured himself another cup of tea, gesturing as if to ask if she wanted another, and she nodded, holding out her cup as he filled it.

"Three days? Wow..." Katya muttered, looking down at her lap for several moments. "Where are we heading now?"

"We were following the Avatar's trail..." Iroh answered, turning his head away. "But we seem to have lost it. There is a Prison rig nearby where we shall be stopping to gather some supplies from, but we won't be there for at least another week, and that's at the earliest."

Katya nodded, taking in the information before taking a sip of her tea.

"We talked before about you being a worker at the colonies, and how you adopted some moves from the Earthbenders, but all your stances are Earthebending ones. You don't have a single Firebender stance." Iroh asked, gazing with interest at Katya.

Katya hesitated for a moment, before deciding to answer. "I was a worker at one of the colonies, where there was a mine." Katya mentally cursed herself. She'd already told him she worked at the colonies, and here she was repeating herself. "The Earthbenders were forced to use their earthbending to create the mine shafts, as well as mine the materials. After discovering I was able to bend, I set about studying their movements and stances, adopting them as mine, since I had no idea of any other stances or movements."

Iroh merely nodded, caressing his chin for several moments as if deep in thought. "Were any of your family firebenders?"

Katya frowned, a look of sadness growing on her face as she looked down at her lap. She missed her family. "In my world, bending doesn't exist."

Iroh raised an eyebrow at this, leaning back in his seat, going deep into thought once more. "This is most certainly interesting. I will come visit you tomorrow Katya, you need some rest."

With that, Iroh stood up, and assisted Katya in lying back down, before walking towards the door, opening it, though he stopped in the doorway. "I almost forgot. Thank you for protecting Prince Zuko. Though I wish you hadn't been hurt in the process.". He exited the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Katya alone to her thoughts.

She hadn't even hesitated when she saw what Aang was doing. She just ran and shoved Zuko out of the way. She was slightly confused and surprised at why she had done it. She merely had a crush on him, it was nothing more. Yet it left her wondering why she had risked her own life for Zuko. He wasn't exactly the nicest person to her. A sigh escaped her as she shook her head, closing her eyes, and allowing sleep to take her.

Katya opened her eyes, sitting up in her bed as she rubbed the back of her head. She looked down, noticing her arms and chest were completely covered with bandages, and grimaced. A knock sounded at her door, and she looked over at it.

"Come in." Katya called.

The door opened to reveal Prince Zuko standing there, and Katya raised her eyebrow, a smirk on her face. "Oh, being polite now are you, _Ponytail?_"

Zuko scowled, glaring at her for several moments, before his gaze softened when he remembered that she had been injured. "I was coming to see if you were awake."

Zuko stood in the doorway, looking out of place, and Katya's gaze remained fixed on Zuko, her eyebrow still raised, her smirk not having died down. "Well, if that was all, _Ponytail,_ it'd be nice if you went and did... whatever you do as captain of this ship. You're letting a draft in."

Zuko glared at her once more, clearly annoyed by her words. "You were badly hurt."

"You think?" Katya remarked sarcastically, raising her bandaged arms to gesture at her body, the upper half completely covered in bandages besides for her face, which had many small scratches on it, and one really large scratch that seemed to be becoming a scar over from under her left eye to the bridge of her nose.

Zuko rubbed the back of his head, remaining silent for several moments as Katya stared at him, shaking her head. "I'd...uh... like to talk to you if that's alright?"

"Asking for permission now are you, _Ponytail?_ Finally realized we're of the same class now?" Katya joked, smirking.

Zuko let out a grunt of annoyance, his eyes narrowing, but he remained where he was, and surprisingly didn't snap at her. She sighed, raising her hands up in defeat. "Okay, let's talk, _Ponytail._ Take a seat, and close the door, I already told you there's a draft!"

Zuko obliged, though a look of anger still adorned his face as he closed the door and sat down in the same chair that Iroh had been sat in when they had spoken earlier. Following this trail of thought, Katya decided to speak first.

"When did Iroh last visit me?" Katya asked.

"Yesterday I believe... he will be visiting later. I always visited first." Zuko responded, causing Katya to laugh.

"_You _visited me?" Katya chuckled, wiping her eye as if there were a tear from laughing. "Oh, _Ponytail, _you really crack me up."

"I'm being serious!" Zuko growled, the candles nearby bursting into life, before dying down to smaller flames as he composed himself. "Ahem... I mean, it was my duty as your captain to check in and ensure you were alright. If you were not, you would have been useless as a crew member and we would have left you at the nearest dock under Fire Nation control"

Katya smirked. "Which is why we're heading towards a Prison Rig isn't it, _Ponytail._"

"There are other docks nearby under our control. We could head to one now if you wanted." Zuko snarled.

"I'm perfectly fine here, _Ponytail_, as it's obvious you just _adore_ me accompanying you. I also did save you before." Katya stated, smiling. "You _owe_ me."

Zuko jabbed his index finger into Katya's chest, anger exploding through him. "I do not _owe_ you anything! You burdened your captain by getting injured! I would have been fine taking that hit!"

"_Ponytail_, I would like it if you'd remove your finger from my chest... You do realize where you're pressing right?" Katya asked, causing Zuko to look down at his finger, pressed into her the upper part of her right breast, and he instantly pulled his hand away, rubbing the back of his head.

An awkward silence filled the room as Katya stared at Zuko, waiting for him to say something since he'd wanted to talk to her, whilst Zuko tried to think of something to say.

"So, why did you push me out of the way?" Zuko asked, breaking the silence.

"I couldn't let the Avatar kick your butt. That's my job, _Ponytail._" Katya responded, smirking, but her smirk dropped at Zuko's serious stare.

"Honestly?" Zuko demanded, and Katya sighed as she stared down at her lap.

"Well... I didn't exactly want to see you get hurt." Katya answered, a blush rising on her cheeks which would have been visible if she were not staring at her lap. When the blush subsided, she lifted her head up to look at Zuko.

"But still, you risked yourself to protect me." Zuko muttered, and Katya narrowed her eyes at him.

"So what, _Ponytail,_ I shoved you out of the way. Maybe I thought you were too weak to handle the blow?" Katya snapped, before sighing. "Was that all you wanted to talk about, I am beginning to tire."

Zuko glared at Katya, before nodding his head and made his way to the door, stopping in the doorway after opening it. "It would have been an inconvenience if you had died."

Katya opened her mouth to respond, but Zuko had already left, the door closing behind him, and she shook her head, a smile on her face. "It's just so much fun messing with him."

She closed her eyes, thinking back to the events at Kyoshi Island. The Avatar was definitely a powerful foe, and she concluded that she would need to improve her strength if she were to be of aid to Zuko in capturing the Avatar.

A knock at the door drew Katya's attention, and she turned to it as the door opened, revealing Iroh, sheepishly grinning as he held out a pot of tea and two tea cups. Katya smiled at the sight, and tried to stand up to help Iroh, but he shook his head and she remained where she was as he sat down in front of her, handing her a cup and pouring her some tea, before pouring tea into his cup.

"We talked before about your style being like that of Earthbenders, correct?" Iroh started the conversation.

"Yes, why are we back on to this topic?" Katya asked, curious.

"You are from another world as you have said. Have you ever tried to bend any other element besides fire?" Iroh asked.

Katya almost laughed, but stopped herself. "I'm not the Avatar, Iroh. How would I be able to bend more than one element?"

Iroh remained silent for several moments, obviously thinking of a response, before shrugging his shoulders as he responded. "It is through a person's chi that they are able to bend. Through their chi, they are linked to a specific element, in my case, fire, and this allows me to bend fire. Only the Avatar can bend all the elements as they are spiritually connected to the entire world, rather than a specific element."

Katya stared at Iroh in confusion as he continued. "You're from another world. Maybe how things work here do not apply to you. You said nobody can bend in your world, yet you're here and able to bend fire. What's to say you can't bend any other element? You did go from being unable to bend at all to bending fire after all."

Katya sat there in stunned silence, before taking a sip of her tea as she thought things over. She glanced at Iroh, who was waiting patiently for her to say something. Katya rubbed the back of her head as she sighed.

"I tried to bend water already, and I can't. Nor can I bend air." Katya responded. "And through my moves, you would think that if I was able to bend earth that I would have by now."

Iroh nodded his head, before smiling. "That's a shame. The tea hasn't been as nice lately, and I think it's because the fresh water we have has been around for a while."

Katya glanced back at her cup of tea, grimacing slightly, before a loud explosion snapped her attention to the door, and she turned to look at Iroh, whose features were twisted into alarm as he stood up from his seat as another explosion shredded the air. Katya placed her cup of tea down and stood up too as Iroh ran out of the room, and she quickly followed, arriving on the upper deck behind him.

Her gaze was immediately drawn to the land on her left, where a large volcano towered high into the air, and it was quite clearly an active one. Another explosion tore the air as Iroh and Zuko, who Katya now noticed out of the corner of her vision, stared up at the volcano.

"Turn this ship to the right quickly!" Zuko shouted.

"What's going on?" Katya asked.

Zuko and Iroh turned to look at Katya standing on the upper deck, their eyes widening in surprise. "The volcano is going to erupt. If it does before we get out of here, we're as good as dead."

As if one of the Spirits wanted to ruin their day, the volcano erupted as he finished his sentence, spewing lava into the air. Katya's eyes widened, and she instinctively created a wall of fire in the air, and sent it flying towards the lava. The lava and wall of fire met, and the wall of fire fizzled out into nothing as the lava hurtled downwards, crashing into the water just to the side of the ship, the water sizzling as the lava made contact.

Another explosion rose into the air as the volcano spewed more lava into the air, large balls of lava crashing around the ship as it moved to escape the falling lava. One ball of falling lava narrowly scraped the side of the ship, melting part of the side of the upper deck into a messy goop before landing in the water.

"Get us out of here!" Zuko roared.

It was then that a large ball of lava exploded into the air, and began hurtling down towards the ship. Zuko's eyes widened as he spotted it, turning to shout at the helmsman.

"Hurry up!" Zuko demanded.

"The ship won't go any faster! I can't avoid it!" the helmsman responded.

"It's going to hit us! We're done for!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Katya reacted without knowing what she was doing, adopting an Earthbender stance as she stared up at the falling ball of lava, and began channeling her chi. Zuko stared at her for several moments, before turning to look at Iroh, who was gazing with interest at Katya.

"Uncle, what is she doing?" Zuko asked.

"I do not know." Iroh responded, before his eyes widened as he came upon a realization as Katya's arms moved slowly in a circular motion. "No... she can't be trying to bend the lava?"

"Bend the lava? Is she insane? Only the Avatar has ever been able to do it! They say it's because he requires earth and firebending to do so." Zuko stated.

"To our knowledge, only the Avatar has been able to do it. That's not to say anybody else has ever done it. Also, nobody truly knows if you need to be able to earthbend and firebend to manipulate lava. I guess we'll be finding out shortly." Iroh smiled, as Zuko stared dumbfounded at him.

"How can you be so calm when we're about to die!?" Zuko asked.

Before Iroh could respond, Katya slammed her foot into the metal deck of the ship as she thrust her arms towards the sky. Several moments passed, and nothing happened. Zuko looked up at the still falling lava, and turned to Iroh, then noticing that the helmsman had stopped trying to move the ship and was staring in shock at Katya.

"We're going to die Uncle, and it's her fault! She distracted the crew!" Zuko growled.

"Prince Zuko, look." Iroh responded, pointing to the air, and Zuko turned his head to look into the air, his eyes widening in surprise.

The lava ball now had a massive crack straight down the middle of it, and Zuko glanced at Katya whose arms shot out to her flanks, the lava ball splitting in two, the two halves flying in the directions she had thrust her arms, and the lava pieces landed harmlessly in the water. Zuko stared in shock at Katya for several moments, before turning to look at the helmsman.

"Get us out of here before more lava comes crashing down on us." Zuko ordered, and the helmsman set about maneuvering the ship away from the volcano, and soon they were out of range of the exploding mass, and back on course towards the Prison rig.

Zuko turned to look at Iroh, confusion etched on his face. "Uncle, how did she do that? She's not an Earthbender."

"This means that the Avatar alone wasn't the only one that could ever manipulate lava." Iroh responded. "It is probably like with the ability to use lightning. Only very powerful firebenders can use lightning, and it's probably the same with lava."

"Are you sure Uncle?" Zuko asked. "She isn't a very powerful bender."

"She told me she cannot earthbend, and she was able to bend the lava, so I'm sure, Prince Zuko." Iroh responded, before turning to look at Katya who had collapsed onto her knees, breathing heavily, and his eyes widened as he rushed over to her side. "Katya, are you alright?"

Katya looked up at Iroh, and smiled. "That took a lot out of me Iroh, I'm exhausted."

"You need some rest, come, let's get you back to your room." Iroh said as he helped her up and assisted her back through the door, and towards her room, leaving Zuko standing on the upper deck alone as he stared at the door where they had just disappeared.

"So, she's not useless after all." Zuko remarked to himself as he stared out at sea, a smile on his face.

Several hours later, a figure was staring through a monocular at a metallic grey ship in the distance, and the figure lowered the monocular.

"Sir, we've spotted a Fire Navy ship!" the figure shouted, turning his head to look at the captain of the ship, who was clad in green armour, a smirk on his face. "It's the Banished Prince's ship!"

"Set sail to intercept them! We'll be rewarded greatly for the capture of the Banished Prince and the Dragon of the West!" the captain declared, laughing.


	6. Battle on Zhao Shi Island

**A:N: I do not own Avatar. I do however own Katya. **

**Chapter 6- Battle on Zhao Shi Island**

Katya sat in front of the fire, twiddling her fingers in boredom, the flame flickering as she did so. Everyone had already fallen asleep, leaving her as the last one awake, and she was bored out of her mind. She had tried to go to sleep earlier, but had ended up lying there for over half an hour and had been unable to fall asleep. She was not tired at all, and it aggravated her. With a grunt, she stood up and left the campsite entering the forest.

They had been at the island for several hours, having stopped and made camp as well as gathering some food from fruit trees on the island. Iroh had also mentioned something about tea leaves, and now they were there with a camp for the night. Katya strode onto the edge of the island, and gazed out at the sea, a sigh escaping her dried lips. An object on the edge of her peripheral vision, and her brow wrinkled as she turned her attention to it, trying to determine what it was, when she spotted a circular brown disk hurtling towards her, and she bent backwards to avoid the disk as it slammed into the cliffside behind her.

Her eyes widened as three figures clad in green armour landed on the beach several metres away from her, and she instantly entered an Earthbender stance, surprising the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

"What's an Earthbender doing here? We tracked a Fire Nation ship to this island." one of the soldiers spoke up, confused.

"You fool, she's with the Fire Nation! Look at her clothes!" the central soldier growled, flinging a disk of earth at Katya.

"Capture the traitor!" the other soldier roared, flinging a chunk of rock at Katya.

Katya snorted as she kicked the disk, causing it to shatter. She flung her right arm out in a punching motion, sending a stream of fire to destroy the rock. "Sorry to disappoint, _Green_, but I'm a Firebender."

Katya slammed her foot on the ground, unleashing what had essentially become her signature move, a spiral of flames swirling along the ground, before shooting up towards the nearest Earthbender. He raised his hand, causing a wall of earth to rise up, blocking the flames, before he kicked the top of the wall at Katya, who launched a fireball in retaliation, the fireball colliding with the earth chunk, and causing it to explode, a cloud of dust filling the gap between Katya and the Earthbenders.

Before Katya could react, two of the Earthbenders launched themselves through the dust cloud, and fired chunks of earth at her, before both of them landed on the ground, causing a large shockwave to surge towards Katya, causing the ground splintered as the shockwave progressed. Katya jumped into the air, dodging the shockwave as two slabs of earth erupted out of the earth where she had been moments ago, and she landed in a crouched position in front of the two slabs as the chunks of earth hit the slabs.

Katya fired a series of fireballs at the two Earthbenders, the fireballs colliding with their chests, sending them skidding backwards, their feet picking up dust as they dragged along the ground. Katya readied herself for an attack when she was suddenly sent flying, and she collided with the cliffside as her vision began to darken and she gasped for air, struggling against the piece of earth now encased around her throat, pinning her to the cliffside, and strangling her as gravity tried to take effect on her body.

She struggled in vain to escape the earth, her eyes widening as she saw an Earth Kingdom ship land on the beach, allowing a dozen or more Earthbenders to leap onto the beach, the leader catching her attention immediately as he was clad in elegant green armour. He strode calmly across the beach upon sighting her.

"Release her. She will lead us to Prince Zuko's camp." the man smirked.

The ring of earth collapsed, causing Katya to fall to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath. Without even thinking, she shot her fist into the air, unleashing a surge of flames into the air, which could be seen from all around the island. The surge of flames suddenly exploded, the noise echoing through the air, and the leader of the Earthbenders turned to look at Katya in anger, slamming his foot to the ground, sending her crashing into the cliffside, before a barrage of earth disks collided with her chest.

One of the disks hit her in the face, and vision from the left side of her face disappeared as she let out a howl of pain, unable to break free from the barrage. Her gaze turned to the treeline as familiar figures burst out, unleashing a flurry of flames at the Earthbenders, a rotund figure rushing to Katya's side.

"Katya, are you alright?" Iroh asked, concern on his face as he spotted the wound to her face.

Katya wobbled onto her feet, stumbling for a moment for regaining her composure and patted herself down, ignoring the pain in her body as anger and adrenaline surged through her.

"I'm not going to let a little beating from some chunks of rock keep me down." Katya grunted, and shot her fist forward, a fireball surging out of her outstretched arm, but she quickly winced in pain, and felt hands grip her shoulders to prevent her from falling.

"You're in no shape to fight." Iroh stated, his grip tightening ever so slightly as she tried to struggle out of his grasp.

"Iroh, I can handle myself, I'll be fine." Katya snarled, anger gaining the better of her and she broke free from Iroh's grasp, running forward into the midst of the battle despite the pain cascading over her.

A ball of earth hurtled through the air towards her, and she slid along the ground, avoiding the ball of earth as it crashed into a Fire Nation soldier behind her, and she scrambled back onto her feet as an Earth Kingdom soldier was upon her, firing chunks of earth at her. Katya brought up a wall of fire, which disintegrated the earth chunks, before lunging at the soldier, her leg kicking out, surrounded by flames. Her leg collided with the soldier's chest, sending him flying through the air and he landed with a thud on the ground, and Katya was already gone, searching for her target.

She spotted him moments later, fighting toe to toe with Zuko, and she stopped for several seconds, in awe as Zuko seemed to effortlessly block the attacks coming at him from the leader of the Earth Kingdom troops. Upon remembering the barrage of attacks launched at her by the man, she let out a snarl of anger and leapt at him, landing on the man's back, causing him to stumble and lose his balance as he struggled to throw her off, distracting him from his fight with Zuko.

Her legs were wrapped tightly around his chest, squeezing tightly towards her own body, in an attempt to wind the man and cut off his airflow as her arms tightened around his throat. Several moments later, she was in the air, and new pain had entered her body as a slab of rock had slammed into her back. She landed next to Zuko, her hand placed on the ground to steady herself as she remained there for a moment, in a kneeling position. She let out a grunt, and stood up, glaring at the soldier as flames swirled around her arms, growing in intensity as her anger took her over.

Gone was the pain she felt, instead all she felt was anger. It made her feel powerful, she had never felt this strong before. "It's time I paid you back for that beating."

"You think you can match me girl? You're a mess, you don't stand a hope in defeating me!" the man laughed. "I shall return to the Earth Kingdom a hero! The _great_ General Zhang, the man who captured the Prince of the Fire Nation, and the Dragon of the West!"

Katya snorted, a smirk on her face, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she span round to look at Zuko, her features contorted in rage. "Katya, let me handle this."

Katya shrugged Zuko away, before charging forward, unleashing a series of fireballs at Zhang, who deflected them away with ease. "Is that the best you've got, girl?"

Katya fired several more fireballs, before leaping into the air, and lunged towards the ground, her fist slamming into the ground as flames surged around her, appearing to engulf her in some sort of aura, before the flames exploded away from her, flying towards Zhang, who brought up a shield of earth to deflect the flames. Katya snarled, and leapt at the shield, crashing through it, her fist connecting with Zhang's nose, sending him to the floor as she landed in front of him.

Before she could deliver any more blows, she fell onto her knees as the pain became too much for her as the surge of adrenaline left her. Before Zuko could react, Zhang was on his feet, and slammed his foot into Katya's chin, flinging her across the ground as she came to a halt in a mess between him and Zuko, before creating two spears of rock and sent them flying towards Katya.

Zuko shot forward, destroying the one earth spear with a kick, before grabbing the second earth spear and melting it in his hand, the two ends dropping to the floor. Zuko launched a series of fireballs and arcs of fire at Zhang, who moved backwards as he blocked the fireballs and arcs of fire, before launching a sphere of rock at Zuko who narrowly dodged the sphere, sweeping his leg underneath Zhang, causing him to land on the ground with a thud. He took his gaze off of Zhang for a moment to glance back at Katya's injured form when he heard footsteps to his left, and his head shot round to see Iroh rushing over, the rest of the Earth Kingdom soldiers having been defeated, leaving Zhang as the last one left.

Zhang sat up, and it was then that Zuko was able to notice that Zhang's face was stained with dried blood, his nose also bent out of shape, and a smirk stretched his face as he realized that Katya had broken Zhang's nose. Zhang made to attack, but Zuko punched him in the face, rendering the General unconscious, before making his way over to Katya, Iroh at his side. Iroh shifted Katya into a seated position, and remained behind her, holding her up.

Katya laughed for a moment, before a coughing fit took over, and it was several moments before she recovered. "Looks like I need more training. I got beat pretty badly."

Whilst Iroh had a look of concern on his face, Zuko's was a mixture of rage and confusion. "How exactly were they able to overpower you? You've beaten me in a fight, and you've beaten nearly my entire crew in spars, and don't forget the time you beat nearly a dozen Firebenders all by yourself when we first met."

Katya shrugged, and immediately regretted it as she winced. "I got distracted and lost sight of the third Earthbender. He managed to trap me against the cliffside, restricting my breathing with some sort of ring of earth around my throat. I was on the edge of falling into unconsciousness when I launched the signal into the air."

Iroh looked at Zuko, whose features were still filled with rage. "You're an idiot! You went after him after taking that beating and got hurt even more!"

"Calm down _Ponytail_, I'm still alive aren't I?" Katya smirked, and Zuko scowled at her.

"You are a nuisance! Uncle, take her back to the ship! I'm sick of the mere sight of her!" Zuko demanded, storming off as Katya stared after Zuko, a look of sadness on her face.

"He didn't mean that, he's just upset." Iroh broke the sudden silence causing her to turn her head to look at him. "He cares about you."

"_Ponytail_ cares about something besides capturing the Avatar? Don't make me laugh." Katya chuckled, gritting her teeth in pain as Iroh assisted her in standing, and the two made their way towards the ship.

"When you've recovered, you're going to need to learn to be lighter on your feet, more agile. You were like a sitting dick almost all the time." Iroh sighed. "But we'll get to that later, let's get you some tea."

The two fell into silence as they arrived back at Katya's room, and Iroh helped her in sitting down on her bed, and he left the room, returning several minutes later with a pot of tea and two cups, handing one to Katya who happily accepted, and then poured the two of them tea. He placed the pot on the nearby table, and sat in the chair next to the table, which was now facing Katya's bed.

Katya took a sip of her tea, glancing at Iroh as silence filled the room, before looking back down at her lap. "Sorry."

"What for, Katya?" Iroh inquired.

Katya pursed her lips as she paused for a moment. "For rushing into the battle when I was already wounded, and should have stayed out of it."

Iroh merely smiled in response, as there was a knock at the door, and a soldier opened the door, carrying a bowl of water and a cloth, and handed them both to Iroh before leaving. Katya looked at the bowl of water and cloth for a moment, her brow creased in confusion, Iroh looking up at her as he soaked the cloth in the water.

"I'm going to need to clean your face, you've got a cut along your left cheek from the bottom of your eye down to the jaw." Iroh stated, and dabbed the cloth onto the wound, Katya hissing in pain as the damp cloth came into contact with her open wound.

Several minutes passed as the two sat there in silence, Iroh concentrating on cleansing the wound so it wouldn't get infected. Once he was done, he pulled an object out of his sleeves, and Katya looked at it, recognizing the object as a roll of bandages.

"Do you just carry around random objects?" Katya asked, smiling, though winced in pain at having smiled.

Iroh shrugged in response. "I'm going to have to cover up your left eye with the bandages so the wound can be covered."

"Oh yay, I'll be like a second version of _Ponytail._" Katya frowned, and then noticed Iroh's expression change to one of sadness. "Sorry."

Iroh merely nodded as he wrapped some bandages around the left side of Katya's face, and it took him a few seconds to finish wrapping the bandages, and tore the roll, tying the loose end at the back of Katya's head left over from tearing the roll away.

"How long will I be like this?" Katya asked.

"Atleast a week. The cut on your face is quite bad, though I think you'll be able to take the bandages off after three days or so." Iroh responded truthfully.

Katya hesitated for a moment. "Will it scar?"

"I don't know." Iroh answered, frowning.

Katya sighed, and Iroh continued, seemingly with slight embarrassment. "You may have cuts on your chest."

Katya's eyes widened at Iroh, who stood up and offered the bowl and cloth to Katya. "I can tell you're uncomfortable. I'll leave you now."

"No." Katya said suddenly, surprising both Iroh and herself. "I have no idea how to clean any wounds, I might end up doing something wrong."

Iroh stood still for several moments, nodding his head, and sat back down, dipping the cloth in the bowl as Katya lifted her shirt up, revealing a bruised stomach, with several cuts over it. Iroh grimaced at the sight as he dabbed the cloth on the wound at the top of her stomach. Several minutes later, and Iroh had finished cleaning the wounds and had also wrapped bandages around her stomach, doing the same as he had done before with the bandages on her head.

"When will I be able to start training again?" Katya asked, and Iroh looked at her.

"To my knowledge, your wounds on your stomach are not that serious." Iroh muttered. "I believe it'll take between two and five days for your wounds to heal."

"I'd like to start training again as soon as possible." Katya revealed.

Iroh frowned and didn't speak for a couple of seconds, tugging at his beard, before releasing a sigh. "We will commence training after we've been to the prison rig."

Katya smiled, nodding her head, before yawning, causing Iroh to laugh. "Katya, you could use some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

Katya lay down on her bed as Iroh stood up and began to leave, and she raised her head to look at Iroh as he opened the door. "Iroh." The portly man turned to look at her. "Call me Kat."

Iroh simply smiled, and left the room, closing the door behind him, and leaving Katya to her own thoughts. She was deep in thought over a potential technique that she wanted to try out as soon as possible, and the usefulness of the technique.

Over the next few days, Katya was visited by Iroh every day, and they talked about various things to pass the time. It was on the fourth day that Iroh visited that was the most interesting.

"We've docked at the prison rig." Iroh said, smiling.

Katya made to stand up, but Iroh shook his head at her, and so she remained seated. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes. The rig was abandoned."

"Abandoned? Why would it be abandoned?" Katya asked.

"It seems that the prisoners rioted and broke free." Iroh explained, a frown on his face.

"So, where will we be going next?" Katya inquired, tilting her head in curiosity.

"We're going to a nearby village to get some supplies." Iroh answered, though he shifted his gaze away for a moment, arousing suspicisions from Katya.

"Iroh, I feel like there's more to this trip than gathering mere supplies." Katya narrowed her eyes at Iroh.

Iroh released a sigh, before a grin was plastered on his face, but he suddenly scanned around him, leaning in to her and answered in a hushed voice. "Between you and me, there's this _wonderful_ natural hot spring that is so comfortable and relaxes your muscles!"

Katya felt a smile tugging at her lips. She had always wanted to go to a hot spring, and now there was a chance on a silver platter for her, albeit with Iroh. She shook her head quickly so no images of a nude Iroh came to her mind.

"All _essentials_ shall remain below the water Iroh, alright?" Katya insisted, a serious look on her face, and Iroh chuckled, a grin on his face.

Katya blushed slightly, as a thought entered her head over a certain someone in the nude, and hid her blush by turning her head from Iroh, who didn't seem to notice. "Zuko won't be joining us will he?"

"My nephew could do with relaxing, but I'm afraid he is focused on his task at hand." Iroh sighed, a look of sadness on his face.

Katya frowned for a moment, before a smile spread across her features. "We'll be sure to tell him how much fun we had at the hot springs, and he'll want to join us next time."

Iroh smiled back at her in response, before he took a glance out of the small window at the top of the wall on his right, and his smile dropped. "I will have to go and train Zuko. I will come by again later, get some rest Kat. We'll be at the dock in tomorrow afternoon. Gives you enough time to get some training in tomorrow evening." With that he winked, and left the room, leaving Katya to her own devices.

Katya dropped down onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she daydreamed. Time flew by and before she knew it she had fallen asleep, lost to her dreams.


End file.
